The Souls of Ponies
by Alisa180
Summary: Twilight Sparkle is called on to help with an emergency concerning a city in the desert; a literal city of Death! Between new friends, and a growing crisis, can she possibly stop the shadow that threatens to engulf not only Equestria, but the whole world?
1. Chapter 1

New crossover! I've been bouncing between this and a standalone sequel to 'Magic and Madness,' but I eventually settled on this. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

/

A scream tore Twilight's concentration from her studying.

Her head snapped up to the nearby window, as Owlicious hooted in distress. Outside, the dark of night made it hard to discern anything.

Immediately, her thoughts went to the recent incidents, where a few ponies had gone missing in the middle of the night. Rumors were flying that some sort of monster was responsible. It was scaring everypony. The Mayor had warned the citizens of Ponyville not to go out after dark. But how could Twilight stay inside when an incident was likely happening outside _right now?_

"I'm going to check it out," she declared to her nighttime study companion.

"Hoo," the owl responded, flying from his perch and landing on Twilight's back. She smiled at him, understanding his wish to go with her. She stepped outside.

Twilight produced a light from her horn, and started walking in the direction that she had heard the scream in. As she walked through the empty streets, she couldn't help but feel anxious. Normally, there were at least a few ponies out at night, nocturnal dwellers who chose to live under the stars in honor of Princess Luna. But even those ponies didn't dare step outside their door tonight.

Twilight then heard another cry. It sounded like a filly! What was a pony that young doing out this late? It didn't matter now, she supposed.

"Hang on!" she yelled, "I'm coming!" She galloped in the direction she had heard the cry.

As she approached an intersection, she saw somepony round the corner. A filly. As Twilight shined her light on the young pony, she saw that she didn't even have her cutie mark yet. Twilight could see a yellow horn poking through her golden mane.

When the light fell on her, she flinched in surprise and turned towards the source. Her eyes widened slightly and she ran over.

"Are you o—" Twilight started.

"Help me!" the filly cried, "Please ... hide me, or ... something!"

"Why?" Twilight asked, leaning down to meet the filly's eyes, "What's wrong?"

"They're after me!"

"Who are?"

Twilight's head snapped up as she heard a crash up ahead. There, standing not far from them, was another pony, a stallion. But he wasn't like any stallion Twilight had ever seen in Ponyville. His eyes glowed red, his mane was scraggly, and his coat was in poor shape. He hissed and _were those fangs?_

The filly backed up slowly, bumping against Twilight.

"Is that who's after you?"

"N-"

"Stop!" Another voice rang out.

The filly squeaked upon hearing it. She scrambled behind Twilight, "Hide me! They're here!"

Feeling confused, Twilight nevertheless concentrated, her horn glowing. The filly then vanished, cloaked by Twilight's invisibility spell.

Almost as soon as the filly disappeared, another stallion appeared. Twilight couldn't make him out very well in the dim light. She could, however, make out the sword that was strapped to his back. She almost backed up herself, but she remember the filly that was right behind her.

"That's enough," the sword-bearing stallion said stepping forward, "You won't be killing anyone tonight." He seemed to be addressing the monstrous pony.

The pony turned around, and hissed again. Without warning, he galloped forward towards the swordspony. The swordspony merely reached back with his head and grabbed the handle of the sword between his teeth. He pulled it in front of him, wielding it with what Twilight could tell was practiced expertise.

It happened so fast that she could barely follow. The swordspony surged forward and sliced right through the other stallion...

Twilight was aware that she was barely breathing as the demonic pony dissolved, leaving behind a red, floating, glowing ball.

What was this? What was going on? Had that swordspony really just...!

The swordspony didn't seem phased by the fact that he had just murdered another pony in cold blood. Instead, he sheathed the sword and walked calmly over to the red ball. He took it in his mouth and placed it inside one of his saddlebags. He then turned his attention back to Twilight.

She flinched. Owlicious hooted. She was suddenly very conscious of the filly hiding behind her. If this was what the filly was running from, Twilight didn't blame her.

The swordspony nonchalantly walked over to them, as if nothing had happened, "That pony shouldn't be causing any more trouble. Sorry you had to see that."

"Wh-wh-," Twilight swallowed, "Who are you?"

The swordspony chuckled, "Just somepony who was assigned to clean up this mess. I'm friendly, don't worry." He stepped forward. She still couldn't make him out very well in the shadows. "I'm going to be leaving soon. But before I go, have you seen anything ... unusual?"

"U-unusual?" She asked, aware that she was shaking.

"Just ... anything strange. Kinda like that pony you just saw, except probably a bit more subtle."

Hoping she was coming off as convincing, she said, "N-no. Nothing..."

"Hm," the swordspony looked thoughtful. He then turned away, "If you can, forget about tonight. It will be better for your mental health, trust me." He then trotted away.

Once he was gone, Twilight finally released the invisibility spell on the filly behind her. Said filly immediately darted in front of her and pushed up against her.

"Thank you so much!" She said.

"Was that pony with the sword who was after you?" Twilight asked.

The filly nodded then shivered, "If he finds me, he'll kill me. Just like he did to that other pony."

"WHAT."

"Yeah. That's why I can't let him ever find me! I slipped up tonight and he almost caught me!"

"Why?" Twilight blurted, "Why does he want to kill you?"

The filly shook her head in distress, "I can't say..."

Twilight observed the filly in front of her for a moment. She then reached forward and nudged her, "Come on. You can stay with me tonight."

n/n/n/n/

"You know, I never got your name."

Twilight was back in her library, trying to get her mind off things by reading a Daring Do novel. The filly was making some tea, something she had insisted on doing as a way of showing her gratitude. Her back was turned to Twilight as she prepared it. Owlicious was perched nearby, observing the scene curiously.

The filly hesitated a moment. Then replied in a chipper voice, "Morning Glory! Ah, I never learned your name either!"

"Twilight Sparkle," Twilight replied, "I'm a student of Celestia."

There was another pause. "Really? That sounds important."

"It is," Twilight smiled to herself, "My special talent is magic. I learn magic directly under the Princess's tutelage. Right now, I'm here in Ponyville studying the magic of friendship specifically."

Morning turned, "Tea's ready! You can tell me everything while we drink it!"

Twilight spent most of the rest of the night telling Morning about herself, her friends, Celestia, her studies, and a whole variety of other things. Morning listened eagerly, seemingly taking in every word.

As the morning approached, Morning looked out the window, "I should go. The sun will rise soon."

"Why can't you stay here?" Twilight asked, "I could send a letter to Princess Celestia about the situation-"

"Twilight," Morning said sternly, "Please, no. The Princess won't be able to do anything. Don't tell anyone you saw me either. I need to get moving." She started to walk towards the door.

"Morning?" The filly stopped at Twilight's voice, "If there is anything I can do, please, tell me."

A pause, "I will."

"Also, you're always welcome back here, if you need a place to stay."

"...I'll keep it in mind."

Morning then stepped out the door, leaving Twilight with a bevy of questions.

n/n/n/n/

_Dear Twilight,_

_I am sending you this letter to request your help on an increasingly dire matter. I can't say much in this letter, for a variety of reasons. I will give you the full details when you arrive in Canterlot. What I can tell is to pack for a long trip. This mission will take you far away from Ponyville, and you will be at this place for a while._

_Do not bring your friends along, not even Spike, at least not yet. If the situation calls for it, we will send them to you._

_I look forward to seeing you, and sincerely hope that you accept this task that I will place at your hooves._

_With regards,_

_Princess Luna._

To say Twilight was surprised to see the letter from Princess Luna was a bit of an fact that Luna was asking for Twilight's help on what seemed to be an important manner was even more surprising. If the situation was really as bad as Luna said it was, why didn't Celestia send the letter?

Another thing that worried her was Luna's insistence that Twilight's friends not come along. Were her friends not one of Twilight's greatest assets? Nevertheless, she trusted Luna's judgement.

It didn't stop her friends from seeing her off at the train station though.

"I do wish we could come with you," Rarity said, as they waited for the train to pull in at the platform. "I would love to see Canterlot again."

Twilight shook her head. "Luna doesn't want any of you coming along. I don't know why, but I'll find out soon enough."

Rainbow Dash slouched in midair. "This sucks," she grumbled. "You're going off on an adventure, and we're stuck here."

"Aw, don't be like that Dashie. We'll have lot of fun with just us here in Ponyville!" Pinkie Pie said, bouncing on her hooves.

"Not sure if I should be excited or not..." Rainbow muttered.

Applejack rolled her eyes and stepped up close to Twilight. "Listen, promise me you'll be careful. I got a bad feelin' about this, like somethin' really nasty is 'bout to happen. Promise you'll call us if things get bad."

Twilight nodded, "I promise. Luna already told me in her letter that she'll bring you guys over if I need you."

"Good. You'll probably need us if the manure hits the fan."

The train finally pulled up. Twilight prepared to board when she heard a yell of "Twilight!" She turned in time to see Spike running up, carrying something. He stopped in front of her, panting, "I made it in time. Here!" He held up a book, "It's that history book that you wanted to bring, but couldn't find."

She smiled as she levitated the book out of Spike's hand and into her saddlebags, "Thanks Spike," she leaned down to nuzzle the baby dragon affectionately, "What will I do without my number one assistant?"

"I'll be fine!" He quickly insisted, "But...you'll send letters, right?"

"As often as I can," she assured, "Try to keep the library in order while I'm gone, okay?"

Spike stood up straight and saluted, "You can count on me!"

"You better get on the train before it leaves," Rarity noted.

"Oh, right," Twilight gave her friends one last smile, before turning and boarding the train. She peeked out the window, as it started to move. Her friends were all waving goodbye as the train pulled from the station and began making its way towards Canterlot.

n/n/n/n/

Canterlot was just as Twilight remembered it as the train pulled into the station. She started making her way towards the castle as soon as she was off the train.

Inside, she decided that while she was here, she might as well pay Celestia a visit. The Princess was always happy to see her student, and she likely knew about the 'dire matter' Luna had talked about in her letter.

As she approached the door to the throne room, she noticed that the door was closed, and guards were standing in front of it. One of them held out a hoof,

"The Princess is not seeing any visitors right now," he said.

"Sorry, I'm Twilight Sparkle. Her student? I just have a few questions for her."

"Her Highness gave us strict orders not to let anyone into the throne room for the next few hours barring a dire emergency," The guard gave her a sympathetic look, "I apologize, but we will be sure to tell her that you came."

She merely looked at the door in confusion. Why wasn't Celestia seeing anyone? That wasn't like her. "Can you tell me where Princess Luna is then?"

"She is in one of the royal study rooms," the guard pointed in a direction, "Near the library."

She bowed her head and thanked them. She made her way through the hallways of the castle, until she finally found the room she was looking for.

Twilight entered the room and surveyed it. It was filled with old papers and lingered in the air, and it was brightly lit. She was sorely tempted to glance at some of them, but she needed to focus. She finally spotted who she was looking for.

"Princess Luna!"

The Princess was poring over some old documents. She turned her head at Twilight's voice, though her serious expression did not change, "Twilight Sparkle," she said simply.

"I came as soon as I got your letter," Twilight walked up to Luna, levitating the letter out of her saddlebags as she did, "I tried to drop by the throne room to say hi to Princess Celestia, but they wouldn't let me in."

"I'm not surprised," Luna said, as she used her magic to roll up the scroll she was reading, "You likely have questions. Questions my sister does not wish to answer." She levitated the scroll into a shelf.

"Not wish to answer?" Twilight asked.

"Indeed," Luna turned to face Twilight, "I must warn you now, Twilight, this is dark business that you will be involved in."

"Can't be much worse than Queen Chrysalis," Twilight pointed out, "Or any of the other things that me and my friends have faced."

"You say that now," Luna said, as she levitated a book from its shelf, "But I assure you, what I am going to tell you will shake you. It runs darkly enough that Celestia has taken a hands off approach to it."

"Wait..." Twilight looked at Luna, gears turning in her head, "Celestia is involved?"

"As am I," Luna said, "We have to be. We are the leaders of this land, and therefore, all involvements with this business go through us first."

There was a silence. Twilight fidgeted, "So...what is it that you're going to tell me?"

Luna sighed and opened the book floating in the air, "As you know Twilight, we ponies are naturally kind and good. We tend towards assisting others, to treating our fellows well," she started flipped pages through the book, as if trying to find a particular page, "But Twilight, have you ever wondered what happens to those ponies who stray from the light? Those who turn from their better natures, and resort to acts of horror?

"I am talking about ponies who have committed heinous crimes. Not mere thievery, which is usually the worst you hear of. But crimes like ... murder."

Twilight gasped, her mind flashing to the swordspony from a few days ago, "Murder?"

"Not just simple murder either," Luna continued, "Mass-murders, serial killings, torture, rape ... All of them are horrific things that happen here in Equestria." She stopped flipping pages, though Twilight couldn't see what she was looking at.

"Ponies who commit these crimes are going against their better nature, straying from the path of ponydom. Through magic we do not yet understand, this ... twists them."

"What?" Twilight was now thinking of the demonic pony from that same night. And then, she remembered the ponies that had gone missing. Had that pony killed them? Then... "You mean...They change."

Luna nodded and finally showed Twilight the book. Twilight levitated it from Luna's control, flipping through the pages. There were various pictures of twisted ponies, and various explanations. Twilight shuddered at some of the more macabre images.

"You can keep that," Luna said, "It will explain much of what I'm telling you more in detail." She started to walk towards another shelf, continuing, "Not just the bodies of such monstrous ponies change, but their souls change as well. The souls of such ponies become as twisted and dark as they are. Eventually, you are left with nothing but a monster.

"Such ponies could not be allowed to exist. Their souls become what are called 'Kishin Eggs.' If allowed to progress," she shook her head, "It will invite disastrous consequences. So, for over a thousand years, there have been ponies dedicated to eliminating those eggs."

Twilight nodded in understanding. So ... that swordspony must have been one of those dedicated to hunting these ... 'Kishin Eggs.' That demonic pony's soul had twisted, and therefore, had to be eliminated.

But if the swordspony was a good pony, then what about Morning Glory?

Twilight didn't like the answer, and pushed it from her mind.

"These ponies were led by the Grim Reaper, the incarnation of Death."

Twilight sputtered at that, "Seriously?"

Luna glanced at her from her shuffling of scrolls, "Very serious. I've met him a few times myself. He's changed a lot in the past thousand years, along with everything else." A pause. The Princess seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before continuing,

"Things have changed in the last thousand years, more specifically in the last eight hundred. Which is the reason I'm going through these scrolls now. Celestia took a very hands-off approach to Death and his business. She never liked it, necessary as it is."

"Why's that?"

"A variety of reasons," Luna replied, "But the main one is that I think she finds it difficult to see her own people fall so far that death is the only option left for them. It is like putting down a beloved dog who has contracted rabies.

"But I am getting off topic. Eight hundred years ago, Death founded an academy dedicated to training ponies to hunt Kishin Eggs. The Death Weapon Meister Academy, located in Death City in the middle of the San Palomino Desert. The city, although within Equestia's borders, does not fall under our jurisdiction. Nevertheless, Death has requested our assistance on an important manner.

"Some ponies are born with an incredible ability to transform into a weapon."

"Huh?" Twilight quickly paged through the book that Luna had given her and indeed, there seemed to be a section addressing something like that. "How?"

"It is a magical ability that some ponies are born with. Ponies with the ability are usually very quickly picked up on and then sent to the Academy. These ponies are trained alongside meisters who wield their weapon forms in battle against kishin eggs. These meister and weapon pairs are the heart of Death's organization.

"Which finally brings me to the crisis that is developing; For some reason, some weapons are losing their ability to transform."

Luna finally levitated a scroll out of a shelf. She placed it nearby while walking up towards Twilight, "And that's not all. Several meisters are beginning to fall mysteriously ill. The combination of these two things is beginning to take its toll on Death's forces."

"And..." Twilight started, "You want me to help?"

Luna nodded, "Death has requested our assistance. I told him we would send the best pony we could. Both me and my sister agreed that you would be best for this task."

Twilight looked down, feeling both confused and overwhelmed, "But...why by myself? Why not allow my friends to help me?"

"My sister has covered up all of this for hundreds of years, with the, albeit reluctant, help of Death," Luna replied, "She would rather the information spread to as few ponies as possible. You are the only one going to Death City, Death's domain, for this mission. But I will send your friends if it seems that you need them.

"You need to understand Twilight, Equestria only seems peaceful because Celestia makes it seem so. She allows her subjects to be blissfully unaware. Can you imagine the chaos if ponies found out about all of the violent crime that occurs right under their noses? Or simply if they found out that they turn into demons under the right circumstances?"

Twilight didn't look up, but she did see Luna's point, "There would be a strong reaction, that's for sure."

"Indeed," Luna agreed, "Which makes it all the more important that we solve the problem in Death City. If the affliction plaguing it is allowed to continue, the organization will be crippled, and in the worst case, completely destroyed. Kishin Eggs will be allowed to proliferate. And if one hatches..." her voice trailed off.

"What happens then?" Twilight pressed.

Luna shook her head, "That book will tell you," She then stood up straight and looked at Twilight seriously, "But now I must ask you Twilight. In the light of all that you have learned, will you help?"

Twilight felt shaken. This was all so much to take in. She had a feeling that a lot of it wouldn't sink in until later. But this was all trumped by one thought.

Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia if what Luna implied was true, needed her help.

Twilight stood tall, "I'll do it."

n/n/n/n/

Twilight was on the train, which would eventually take her to Death City.

She was currently reading through the book that Luna had given her. According to the book, Death City was founded 800 years ago after an unspecified disaster. The city wasn't under any nation's jurisdiction, but the organization it was the heart of was international. Countries contributed funds, and students from all over the world attended the Academy. In exchange, the DWMA provided a variety of peacekeeping duties, the primary one being the elimination of Kishin Eggs.

One thing that greatly interested Twilight however, was the mention of Ancient ruins. The Ancients were a mysterious race the predated pony civilization by milena. After Death City was founded, one of the most intact ruins ever found were discovered near the city. The ponies of the city became fascinated with what of the Ancients were discovered there, to the point that some parts of the Ancient culture became part of their own.

The ruins were currently home to one of the most extensive archeological digs in the world. Twilight made a note to visit the site. It sounded like fun.

There were many other things in the book, but Twilight was now feeling slightly overwhelmed. Suddenly struck by her memory of Morning Glory and the swordspony, put the book away to pull out a letter that Luna had gave her. The letter was actually written by Celestia, but Luna had passed it on at her sister's request.

Twilight put the letter away and took out a novel that she was working on. Eventually, the train slowed to a stop.

Most ponies got off. A few, however, got on.

"This seat taken?"

Twilight looked up from her book. Standing there, was a pony with an electric blue and white mane, a white coat, and red eyes. A musical note was her cutie mark. She seemed familiar, though Twilight couldn't quite place her hoof on it.

"Go ahead," Twilight said.

The pony took the seat next to her. Shortly after, the train started to move.

"You headed for Death City?"

Twilight looked back up from her book again in surprise, "Yeah, you know about it?"

"Of course I do," the mare smiled, "It's kinda of one of those out in the open secrets. Not many ponies know about it, but it's not like it's actively hidden."

Twilight frowned, "I'm not sure about that. I've read scores of books, and I've never heard of it until recently."

The mare shrugged, "Well, I've been in Los Pegasus for a while and most ponies there know about it. There's a lot of coming and going between the two cities. Why you headed out to the desert anyway?"

"Its a long story. What about you?"

The mare pointed at herself with a hoof, "Me? I'm moving in with a friend there. She needs my help with something. Already got a job at the local club lined up, so I'll probably be there for the foreseeable future."

At the word, 'club,' the pieces clicked in Twilight's mind, "I thought I recognized you! You're DJ Pon-3!"

The mare smiled brightly and stuck out her chest, "The one and only! Of course, that's just my stage name. My real name is Vinyl Scratch."

"Vinyl, I'm Twilight Sparkle. You might recognize me from Ponyville."

Vinyl cocked her head, "I kinda do. You worked in the library, right? Ponyville was a nice place. How's Pinkie Pie doing?"

"She's doing great."

Eventually, their conversation trailed off and Twilight went back to her book. Occasionally, she would look out the window, as the greenery that surrounded Los Pegasus slowly turned into the desert sands of the San Palomino Desert.

She was lost in the world of her book, until she heard the train conductor announce that they would soon be arriving in Death City. Curious, Twilight put away her book and looked out the window.

The city was huge! Rather than being spread out, it was instead looked like a 'pile' of buildings, towering over the landscape. The buildings were a style that she had never seen before, and here and there, she could see a large, strange skull decoration adorning them.

"Almost there," Twilight turned at Vinyl's voice to see that the pony had stood up and was now making her way out of the car, "I need to go to the luggage car and make sure that my gear makes it off in one piece. Hope to see you around, Twilight!"

"See you around." Twilight watched as Vinyl left. She then went back to looking out the window, admiring the city. She watched, as it grew closer and closer. She turned back into the car to gather her things when it entered the city itself. She stood at the door as the train slowed to a stop. The train door opened.

Twilight stepped off the train carefully. The heat of the desert air hit her like a wall of lava. She blinked as the bright sun shined in her eyes.

As she carefully stepped off the train platform, and started walking towards the Academy, she observed the city around her.

The streets were bustling with ponies going about their business. If it wasn't for the slightly bizarre architecture, it would seem like a regular city in Equestria. There were open air markets, shops, and a wide variety of other things.

Twilight was so absorbed in taking it all in, that she wasn't watching where she was going.

She was trotting perhaps a little too fast in her anticipation, and ran into something pony-like. Her hindquarters hit the ground as what sounded like a book skittered along the pavement. She placed a hoof to her head feeling slightly dizzy.

"I'm so sorry," she said. When her vision cleared up, she turned her head and grabbed the nearby book with her telekinesis, "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Well," The other pony said, "I wasn't either, so its on both of us." The other pony, an earth pony, had a white coat, green eyes, and her ashy blonde mane was done up in pigtails. A book with a picture of a scythe on the cover served as her cutie mark.

Twilight was barely paying attention to the other though. The book Twilight was hovering in front of her was _Dark Side of the Moon._

"This is a really good book," Twilight commented, "You like it?"

"I like what I've read so far," the mare said as Twilight hovered the book into her saddle bags. As she opened the bag, so noticed even more books inside it, "That's why I ran into you. I was so excited to continue reading that I was galloping too fast. Sorry."

Twilight, curious, hovered a few other books out of her bag. One was a Daring Do novel. Another was _History of Soul Studies._ The final one was _Modern Magical Theory_.

The last one intrigued Twilight. "Why would an earth pony study magic?" she asked.

The other mare blushed, "I like reading, and even though I can't do magic, it still fascinates me. Its a really interesting subject. Right now I'm trying to learn about Kimono's prevailing theories about why magic is so specialized to a unicorn's cutie mark, and the full extent of any given unicorn's magical repertoire."

"Oooh. Might I recommend _Cutie Mark Magic_? It had a lot of things related to Kimono's theories."

"I'll have to see if the library has that. It sounds really interesting."

"If you're reading this, then you have to have read _The Flow of Magic_, right?"

"Cover to cover! I have to say, a lot of Ruby Moon's speculations were absolutely fascinating in their varied possibilities!"

Of all the things Twilight expected, she did not expect to spend her walk to the Academy to be spent discussing magic with an earth pony. Eventually, their conversation segued into one about Daring Do. It turned out the mare was re-reading that particular book, and soon the two of them were discussing their favorite parts and debating plot points.

Twilight was so absorbed in her conversation with the other mare, that she barely noticed that she had just finished climbing the long steps up to the Academy. The other mare realized it first.

"...Ack! I'm here!"

Twilight started and looked up. The Academy was very imposing up close. It was a huge, red and black castle-like structure decorated with the same skull motif she had seen through the city. The entrance even had a huge skull curving over it. She held back the urge to step back.

"Were you headed to the Academy too?" The mare asked, leaning in towards Twilight, "Are you a new student here?"

"Kinda, its complicated," Twilight admitted.

"I'm a student here too!" The mare chirped, "I hope we're in the same class."

Twilight smiled despite herself, "Me too, actually."

"Well, good luck! I need to talk to one of my teacher's about a recent report." She started to walk off.

"Wait!" Twilight called, "I never got your name!"

The mare stopped and turned, a smile on her face, "Maka Albarn! And yours?"

"Twilight Sparkle."

"It was fantastic meeting you Twilight, I hope to see you in school!" Maka then left.

Twilight stared after her. Her first thought was, that mare had a strange name. But then she remembered that her book had said about the ponies here being so fascinated with the Ancients that they had ended up adopting part of Ancient culture for their own. Twilight supposed naming was part of that.

There were ponies milling about. Some of them had weapons, often strapped to their backs, but also hovered in the air using magic. Once or twice, Twilight even saw a griffin walk by. She remembered reading about how the Academy was an international organization. While only ponies had the coveted ability to turn into a weapon, it wasn't uncommon for other species such as griffins to attend the Academy as meisters.

When she finally entered the Academy building itself, the first thing she realized was that she had no idea where to go. She walked up to a nearby pony.

"Excuse me?" The pony glanced at her, "Is there a map of the school somewhere? I'm new here."

The pony actually chuckled, "No map of this place. Defeats the purpose. Is there someplace you're looking for in particular?"

"I'm actually looking for either the Grim Reaper, or the headmaster of the school."

"...You do realize they're one and the same, right?"

Twilight felt her face flush, "Well...no I didn't. What I read said that Death founded the school and heads the DWMA organization, but not that he was also headmaster of the school."

The pony smiled, "It's kind of a reasonable assumption, don't you think? In any case, you're looking for the Death Room." Yeah, that didn't sound ominous at all.

The pony helpfully gave her directions. Twilight thanked the pony and walked towards what was referred to as the 'Death Room.'

As she made her way through the hallways of the Academy, she couldn't help but feel a mixture of anticipation and dread. This was the Grim Reaper she was about to see! The very incarnation of Death, if what Luna said and what Twilight read was any indication.

She finally reached the end of a hallway, where there was a door that read 'Death Room.' This was it. She reached up a hoof to knock on the door...

...Only to have the door open to reveal a black stallion with a red mane. The pony started upon seeing her.

"Oh, are you here to see Lord Death?" He asked.

"Yes," Twilight nodded, "I'm Twilight Sparkle, I was sent here by Princess Luna."

Understanding lit up the stallion's face, "Ah, so you're the representative that the Equestrian rulers promised to send. Lord Death has been expecting you." he stepped aside and gestured to the hallway that stretched beyond the door. Twilight stuck her head in. The hallway was lined with overhanging guillotines, and she felt that sensation of dread and even a bit of fear well up again.

The stallion nudged her inside, "I'll come with you; I had other plans, but this is more important." He followed Twilight as she finally stepped into the hallway and began making her way down it.

"Um..." she started, "What's your name?"

"Spirit Albarn," he replied.

That sounded familiar, "Do you know Maka Albarn, by any chance?"

"She's my daughter," he suddenly perked up, "Why? Did you see her?"

"On my way to the school, yes."

"Ooooh, she's still in the school?"

"Um, yeah..."

"Wonderful! I'll have to go to her as soon as I'm done delivering you!" He seemed enthused by the thought, smiling brightly, then he got a dreamy look on his face, "Ah, I got a new book for her, I hope she likes it..."

Slightly weirded out, Twilight nevertheless continued her trip down the hallway.

She was prepared for many things. She was prepared for the menacing incarnation of Death. She was prepared for what would likely be scarier than any changeling or monster that she had ever met or read about.

She wasn't prepared for this.

"Oh hello, hello! Am I to assume that you are the one that Princess Luna and Princess Celestia sent?"

She did not expect this. She expected a large, menacing creature.

She did not expect a large black alicorn, wearing a large black full-body cloak that obscured his form, and wearing a goofy skull mask that resembled the skull motif that she kept seeing. What really threw her off was his mannerisms. Although she couldn't see it, she could tell that he was smiling brightly under her mask. His tone of voice was friendly and jovial. He wasn't scary at all. If anything, he was like one of those cartoon characters she had seen at the movies.

Feeling completely out of balance, Twilight could only nod.

"Wonderful! We've been expecting you! Yes, we've been in quite a bind recently. How much did they tell you, by the way?"

"Um..." She quickly forced herself to focus, "They told me that you were having problems with the students here."

"Ah yes," Death's tone became grave, "Recently, Demon Weapons have been mysterious losing their ability to—where are you going Spirit?"

Twilight turned her head to see that Spirit was walking towards the door, "I'm going to see my daughter!" he replied, "I'd also like to get home early to my wife." he chuckled, "Don't want her thinking I've been hitting the cabaret club."

Death sighed, "Very well. Have a good evening, Spirit."

After Spirit left, Death turned back to Twilight, "Now, where was I? Oh yes. Recently, Demon Weapons have been mysteriously losing their ability to transform. It started with just a few...and before we knew it, more and more have been losing the ability. That by itself would be a catastrophe, but many meisters are also falling ill. At the current rate, its only a matter of time before we won't even have enough to keep kishin eggs under control. But I'm afraid it only gets worse from there. Demon Weapons are our primary weapon against evil. If we were to completely lose them..." His voice trailed off.

"It would be bad, right?" Twilight guessed.

"It would be the precursor to chaos like you've never seen. Which is why our first priority is to find out what is causing them to lose the ability. I have a feeling that its connected to the illness affecting the meisters, so we'll be killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.

"Which is where you come in. We need your help to investigate. I'm told that you have powerful magical capabilities. That will come in handy as we try to get to the bottom of this."

Twilight nodded, "I understand sir," she then remembered the letter, "Oh, before I forget," she hovered the letter out of her saddlebags, "Celestia wanted me to give you this." The Academy, despite the violent vocation, was still ultimately a school, with many subjects that she never knew existed before. Celestia had seemingly realized this, and so, to make Twilight's stay more enjoyable, had provided a special request for Twilight to become an honorary student at the Academy.

"Hm?" Death levitated the letter from her, unraveling it and reading it over, "Ah, I see. Well, I certainly don't see the harm in having you attend some of the classes here, if that's what you really want."

Twilight stood up proudly, "I love learning, and there are so many things here that I don't know. I would be honored by the opportunity to find out."

Death chuckled, rolling the letter up, "Of course, I shall have you signed up for classes immediately. Also, there's an apartment setup for you. Talk to the front desk, they will be able to give you the address."

Twilight bowed her head, "Thank you."

"No, thank you. I have a feeling we are going to need everything you can do to help to get us through this mess."


	2. Chapter 2

Holy crap, I did NOT mean for this to take as long as it did! I just kept getting stuck and sidetracked. College didn't help. In any case, here's a nice long update!

Disclaimer: I do not own MLP: FIM or Soul Eater

/

Twilight had arrived at the apartment set up for her to find that her bags had already been delivered there from the train. She spent most of the rest of her day arranging everything and putting her things away. She then settled down with a book until it was time to go to bed.

The next day was a day off for the students, so she decided to take the day to explore the city. She received a surprise as she stepped outside of her apartment.

"Maka!?"

The white pony was lost in conversation with another earth pony accompanying her as she made her way down the hall. She startled at the sound of her name. She turned her head and her face brightened.

"Oh! You're that new student! Twilight, right?" She trotted up, "What are you doing here?"

"I could be asking you the same thing," Twilight said, "I'm staying here while I'm in the city."

"That's great!" Maka waved a hoof, "We live in the apartment just down the hall. What are the chances?"

"Might not be that much of a coincidence given Lord Death," Maka's companion spoke. He was a stallion with an orange coat and a spiky white mane. He wore a headband in his mane, had red eyes, and seemed rather bored. Strangely enough, his cutie mark seemed...blurred? Twilight couldn't get a good look at it and was about to ask when Maka spoke again.

"Good point," she agreed, "Ah!" She stepped aside, and gestured to her companion, "This is my partner and roommate, Soul Eater." That was a more normal-sounding name, if a bit creepy.

"Hey," he greeted, yawning.

"Nice to meet you," Twilight said, nodding, deciding to push aside the cutie mark matter for the moment, "I'm Twilight Sparkle," she turned to Maka, "That reminds me, did you finish reading that novel yesterday?"

"I did. After you told me about how good it was, I couldn't put it down!"

The two of them were once again lost in conversation, making their way through the hallways of the apartment complex as they made their way outside. Soul trailed behind the two mares. At one point, Twilight heard him mumble,

"Great, you're another bookworm like Maka..."

Once they were outside, Maka asked, "So, what were your plans today?"

"I just thought I would take a look around the city," Twilight confessed, "I'm going to be here for a while, so I'd thought I'd get to know the area."

"Why don't you let me show you around?" Maka offered, "I know the city well. I can show you all of the local landmarks, the best restaurants, and the shops."

"Maka," Soul started, "I thought we were going to hang out with Black*Star and Tsubaki?"

"You can go on ahead, I'll catch up later" she replied, "Black*Star will just force me into a ball game anyway."

The stallion eyed her for a moment, then shrugged, "Suit yourself. See you later." He then trotted off.

Maka turned, "Come on, there's a bookstore nearby that you should probably see."

Twilight followed Maka as she happily played tour guide. One thing that struck Twilight as they made their way through the city was the places' seeming obsession with Death. As in the word. And other equally morbid words to a smaller extent. The big bookstore, for example, was called Bones and Noble. The ice cream shop was Death Robbins. The coffee shop was called Deathbucks.

The two of them were actually headed for said coffee shop to take a break when a pony stumbled out of the entrance. She had a dull gray coat and an equally dull pink mane. She wore a completely black, slim, full body robe with white cuffs. Her ears were flopped down and wings sticking out from her robe hung at her side.

Maka immediately lit up at the sight of the mare. "Crona!" She galloped over to the other pony, who first jumped at the sound of her name, then relaxed and smiled upon seeing Maka.

"Maka!" The mare, Crona, greeted.

Twilight came up behind Maka as she talked with Crona.

"What were you doing out here?" Maka asked.

Crona threw the coffee shop an agitated glance, "I-I was told that I should start trying to do things on my own...S-so I decided to come here to get that drink you always get me when you bring me here..." She shuddered, "B-but there were so many people in there! I-I couldn't deal with it!" She slouched down, ashamed.

"Oh Crona," Maka leaned forward and gave the other mare an assuring nuzzle, "Don't try to push yourself too hard. It'll come to you eventually."

"Are you going to introduce me?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Maka stepped aside, "Crona, this is Twilight Sparkle. She's a new student at the school. Twilight, this is Crona."

"N-nice to meet you..." Was the quiet response.

"Its nice to meet you too," Twilight returned, smiling. Crona shrank away, but there was a dusting of red on her cheeks.

Maka leaned over and whispered in Twilight's ear, "Go easy on her, she's not good with people."

"Don't worry about it," Twilight replied, reminded of Fluttershy through this pony, "I have a friend like her back home."

Maka turned her attention back to Crona, "Why don't you come back inside with us? I'll order that drink for you."

The mare nodded and followed the other two into the cafe.

Crona was mostly quiet the whole time, but her ears had perked up and she seemed to be genuinely enjoying herself. Twilight learned that Crona was relatively new to the Academy as well, and Twilight was glad that she wasn't the only student who had appeared in the middle of the term.

When they were almost done, however, she noticed that a sandwich was still on the table. It wasn't even unwrapped yet.

"Are you going to eat that?" She asked.

"Ah," Crona glanced at the sandwich, "I'm saving that for Ragnarok."

"Ragnarok?" Twilight questioned.

"He's my weapon partner," Crona explained, "He likes to eat a lot."

Twilight put the name in back of her head for future reference. Once they had finished up in the cafe, they stepped outside.

"Finally!"

Twilight looked up at the voice. There, hovering above them, were a pair of pegasi. One had a black mane done up in a long ponytail and a cream colored coat. Her cutie mark was what seemed to be a ninja star. She was looking away bashfully. The other pegasus however, seemed very annoyed, flittering in the air. He had a light blue coat and a dark blue spiky mane. A black star served as his cutie mark.

Maka groaned, "Not now, please."

"We've been flying all over town looking for you Maka!" The blue pegasus hovered over Maka, glaring down at her, "Come on, we need one more person for the game!"

"No!" Maka snapped, "And why do you need one more person anyway? Last I checked, you had an even number!"

"Well, Tsubaki here isn't feeling well, so we need a sixth person."

As Maka and the blue pegasus argued, the cream pegasus, Tsubaki Twilight assumed, came in for a landing in front of Twilight. She shot a worried glance at the pair, a hoof to her mouth.

"That's not going to turn out well..." She said. She then looked at Twilight and smiled politely, "I don't believe I've seen you before. What's your name?"

"I'm Twilight Sparkle," Twilight said, "I'm a new student at the Academy. Maka was just showing me around the city."

Tsubaki brightened, "A new student? Are you going to be in our class?"

"I'm not sure," Twilight admitted, "Who are you anyway?"

"Ah," The pegasus bowed, "I'm Camellia Blossom. But everyone calls me Tsubaki. And that over there," she gestured to the other pegasus, "Is Black*Star."

There was a loud *THAWK!* They turned their heads to see that Black*Star was now flat on the ground, a book embedded in his skull. Maka was standing over him, fuming.

Tsubaki sighed, "I was afraid that would happen. Excuse me for a moment." She trotted over to the other two ponies.

Crona leaned in close to Twilight and whispered, "Maka's scary when she's angry..."

"Where did that book even come from?" Twilight asked. Crona shrugged.

It took a few minutes for Maka to calm down a little and for Black*Star to recover, but after that, Tsubaki admitted it.

"I haven't been feeling well today," she said, "I think I'm coming down with the flu."

At this, Maka's face turned into one of concern, "Can you still transform?"

"I did it just this morning. I think its just a bug, not related to what's been going around. After all, the weapons have been feeling just fine."

"You mean besides the fact that they completely lost their transformation ability?" Maka sighed, "If you're really not feeling that good Tsubaki, I'll fill in for you."

Black*Star leapt into the air and hovered, "Great Maka! We'll meet you at the court! Crona and Twilight can come too!" He then shot off with speed that would have impressed Rainbow Dash.

"He certainly has a lot of energy," Twilight commented.

"And he has the ego to match," Maka grumbled, shaking her head.

"He has a good heart though," Tsubaki added, "I'm proud to have him as my meister."

Twilight, her curiosity now piqued, asked, "So you're a Demon Weapon?"

The pegasus nodded, "A Multi-Form Shadow Weapon to be precise." Twilight had no idea what that meant but she was going to hit the books and find out.

"I've never met a Demon Weapon before," Twilight said.

"That's not true," Maka said, "You've met Soul. He's a Demon Scythe," she stuck out her chest, "I'm his meister, and top of my class. We're one of the best pairs in the Academy."

Tsubaki giggled slightly before spreading her wings, "I better go catch up with Black*Star." She then took off, flying at a much more leisurely pace in the direction her companion had went.

They watched her go, before Maka sighed, "We better get over there before Black*Star comes back."

Maka led them through the city until they finally reached what Twilight recognized as a ball court. A group of ponies were gathered there.

She recognized Tsubaki, who was on a bench nearby, Black*Star, who was hovering in the air, and Soul from earlier, who was tossing the ball around with Black*Star. She didn't recognize the three other ponies present.

Two of them were mares, red unicorns with golden manes, one a bit smaller than the other and both with...pistols as their cutie marks? The smaller one was watching the back and forth between Soul and Black*Star with a big smile on her face. The bigger one was discussing something with the third unknown pony, an ash grey stallion with three white streaks in his bowl-cut black mane. Bizarrely, a skull was his cutie mark. Twilight thought he was a unicorn, until grey feathers fluttered out from his side in seeming irritation. An alicorn!

Black*Star noticed the approaching trio, and held the ball that had just been tossed to him, "Finally! What took you slowpokes so long?"

"Can it," was Maka's response, "Unless you want another fault-line in that thick skull of yours."

The grey alicorn and his companions turned. He immediately focused on Twilight, "Twilight Sparkle I presume?"

Twilight was taken off guard and nodded, "Um, yes."

The alicorn approached her, as Maka joined the others although Crona hung back, "I am Death the Kid, son of Death." So that was why he was an alicorn. "And a Grim Reaper myself." That explained the cutie mark. Death. "My father informed me that you arrived last night. We had put in a request for help from the Equestrian government, and Princess Luna personally assured us that we would not be disappointed."

Twilight allowed herself a little pride into her stance, "Both Princesses have the utmost faith in me. I hope not to disappoint."

"Indeed," Kid glanced at Crona, "Crona, would you be a dear and take my place? There are some things that I wish to discuss with Ms. Sparkle here."

n/n/n/n/

Both Maka and Crona were clearly very awkward in playing. If Twilight wasn't caught up in her conversation with Kid on the sidelines, she would have found it fun to watch and maybe even join in.

"I hope you have some idea on how to solve our problem," Kid commented, as he and Twilight relaxed on the sidelines.

"Well, I think I need to see some of the ponies who have fallen to this," Twilight replied, "I need to get a good look at what's going on before I can start figuring things out."

"Knowing my father, you'll probably be in my class. Our homeroom teacher is one of the ones in charge of looking after those who have fallen ill. You can talk to him."

"Perfect! That will be the first thing I do after school tomorrow!"

Kid looked at her with a sympathetic expression, "I understand that you are under a lot of pressure..."

She shook her head, "Maybe, but the Princesses entrusted me with this task. I don't intend to let them down," she smiled, "Besides, attending the Academy will be fun! There are so many things here that I don't know, and I can't wait to learn!"

Kid chuckled, "I can see why you and Maka hit it off so easily."

"That was a foul!"

The two of them turned their attention to the ball court. The bigger red unicorn was staring down Black*Star,

"That was so totally a foul!"

"No it wasn't!" Black*Star shot back, "You're just upset because your team is down by six!"

"My flank! Maka, tell him!"

The earth pony flinched and drew back, "Er, you know that I don't really know the rules..."

Kid sighed, "I better go break it up." He stood up and walked towards the court. After some talking, the unicorn came to the sidelines and plopped next to Twilight in a huff.

"The nerve!" She said, "I don't know how Tsubaki puts up with him!"

"Um..." Twilight started.

The unicorn started and looked over, as if just remembering that Twilight was there. "Sorry," she said, "Black*Star's a good friend. Just a real pain in the flank sometimes." She smiled, "I'm Liz Thompson, and the smaller one over there," she gestured to other unicorn on the court, "Is my little sister Patty."

"A pleasure," Twilight smiled, "Are you two partners as well?"

"Well, kinda. Me and my sister are Demon Pistols. Kid there," she nodded at the alicorn now, "Is our meister. He wields us as twin guns."

"A person can wield more than one weapon?"

"Its difficult, but not unheard of. Another of our friends, Kilk, is also a dual-wielder," Liz smiled, "Enough about us though. Twilight, right? Which part of Equestria are you from?"

Twilight found herself hit with a small bout of homesickness, but shook herself. She would see her friends again soon enough. "I grew up in Canterlot, but I currently live in Ponyville."

"Ponyville, huh?" Liz looked thoughtful, "Small town, what would take you from a big city like Canterlot to a place like that?"

"A whole variety of things," Twilight confessed, "I have a lot of friends there. Right now, I'm doing most of my studies there. Its different from Canterlot, I'll admit that. But I'm proud to call Ponyville my home."

"Heh, fell hard for that place, huh?" Liz glanced at the court, seemingly focusing on her sister, "I'm actually from Equestria myself. Me and my sister are from Manehatten."

"You're from Equestria?" Twilight cocked her head, "But, your names..."

"We changed them when we came here. You see that a lot, actually. New names, new start. That was the case for me and my sister," when Liz saw Twilight's curious look, she added, "It's a long story."

Twilight nodded, understanding the request not to pry. She spent some time chatting with Liz. A stray comment about dresses led Twilight to recommend her friend Rarity and promised Liz to put her in contact.

Twilight was finally able to watch the game. A bit into the third round, Liz went back in to replace Crona, who was looking increasingly overwhelmed by the activity. The pegasus collapsed next to Twilight, breathing hard from what she suspected was more than physical exertion.

Once they were done playing, they started going their separate ways. Black*Star checked up on Tsubaki, who still wasn't feeling well. In fact, she was feeling worse. She couldn't even manage a proper take-off. He decided to walk with her home instead of flying.

Kid and the sisters left next, promising to meet the others in school the next day. Twilight joined Maka, Soul and Crona as they walked away from the court. They walked together for a bit, before Crona split off from them to head home.

"You seem to have great friends," Twilight noted after Crona left.

Maka smiled, "Yeah, they're a great group. Even Black*Star, even if he grinds on my last nerve.I do hope Tsubaki feels better soon though. I should prepare to take another set of notes in case she misses school tomorrow."

"Hey, Maka," Soul nudged her.

She turned her head to face him, "What is it?"

"I'm going to drop by the record store to pick something up. You mind?"

She shook her head, "No, go ahead." He thanked her and then quickly slid down another street.

"Guess that leaves just us," she commented.

"I guess," Twilight agreed, "Do you have anything in mind?"

"I have a few good books you might like at our apartment. Why don't we just head back for the complex for now?"

The two of them walked through the streets, chatting about another novel they had both read, when a female voice stopped Maka dead in her tracks.

"Maka! What a coincidence!"

Twilight turned her head, although Maka remained frozen. Coming up to them, was a mare with an ashy-blonde mane and a white coat. Accompanying her was the stallion that Twilight had met in the Death Room yesterday, Spirit. The presence of Spirit, combined with the mare's uncanny resemblance to Maka, left little doubt as to who she was.

The mare noticed Twilight and smiled, "Oh, I haven't seen you around?"

"She's the Equestrian representative I was talking about yesterday," Spirit said, before focusing on Maka, coming up to her. She finally turns. "What great timing, seeing you out here!"

Maka says nothing, refusing to meet Spirit's eyes, as the older mare continues addressing Twilight.

"I'm Kami, Maka's mother," she says before turning to address her daughter, "We were just going out to the restaurant a few blocks from here. Why don't you come with us? We haven't done anything as a family for a while."

Maka shook her head, "No thanks. Me and Twilight were just going to go back to the apartment complex."

"But sweetie, we really haven't had much time to talk lately. How has school been? You haven't come over to visit since the first few days I came back. Why?"

Maka shot a heated glare at the elder mare. Sensing sparks were about to fly, Twilight stepped between them.

"I think we should go," she said.

Kami blinked, "You can come with, if you would like. I don't know many of Maka's friends very well outside of Black*Star."

One glance at Maka told Twilight that things were going to go downhill very soon. "No," she said, "I really think we should go."

"Maka," Spirit stepped closer, "You aren't still mad at us, are you?"

Twilight watched something inside Maka snap. She opened her mouth. Before she could say anything that Twilight knew she would regret later, the unicorn quickly spoke while conjuring magic from her horn,

"I'm sorry but we really need to go!"

A split-second later, the two of them blinked out of existence.

They reappeared on a roof, what Twilight hoped was a fair distance away. She wasn't really thinking of anyplace specific when she cast the spell. As she took in her surroundings to figure out where they weere, Maka collapsed.

Twilight leaned over her, "Are you okay?"

Maka shook her head, "Not really."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I...would rather not," Maka lowered her head, "Its just a whole bunch of things."

Twilight sat down next to her, "I understand."

They spent some time up there, before finally climbing down and heading for the complex. Twilight didn't bring up the encounter for the rest of the day. Instead, the pair went to Maka's apartment to lose themselves in some good books. Twilight stayed until Soul came home, at which point, she left to make herself dinner at home.

n/n/n/n/

Today was Twilight's first day at the Academy.

Before they had split up yesterday, Maka had generously given Twilight extra copies of the required textbooks. It had taken an amazing amount of self-control not to spend the whole night reading them. She was now using her levitation to put those books, along with pencils, papers, and anything else she thought she might need into her bags.

She wasn't surprised to see Maka and Soul when she stepped out of her apartment, Maka with her school saddlebag. She seemed fairly cheerful, with none of the pall that had been cast over her yesterday.

"Good morning Twilight!" The white mare greeted.

"Good morning," Twilight returned.

"I thought we'd walk to school together," Maka offered, "What do you say?"

Twilight smiled, "That sounds like a great idea! You can start catching me up on the way."

Soul yawned, "Don't try too hard to out-nerd each other. It'll make the trip more boring than it already is."

Maka shot her companion a glare, "You're already at strike one for today, let's try not to make strike two yet."

The two of them happily chatted the whole way to the Academy, with Twilight asking questions about the finer points about what she had read last night and Maka happily explaining. Once they reached the top of the long stairs in front of the Academy, Maka and Soul broke off from Twilight.

"I need to go get Crona," she explained. "She sleeps in the overnight rooms here. Sometimes, she has trouble coming out."

"I need to check by the front myself," Twilight said, "See you later?"

"Definitely!" And with that, the two of them were gone.

Twilight went inside the Academy, but naturally, found herself lost again. She had to ask for directions to the desk she was looking for.

The mare manning the desk was understanding, and happily handed Twilight her schedule. The explained that parts of the day that would involve combat practice and physical training would be free periods for Twilight. She would be able to watch the other students or do other things.

The mare was amused when Twilight asked for a map.

"There's not really a map of the school," she explained, "One of the core principles of the school is 'a sound soul dwells within a sound mind and a sound body.' The Academy was deliberately designed to be confusing in order to help students develop a 'sound mind.' You'll have to learn your way around."

That explained what that stallion yesterday had meant by a map 'defeating the purpose.'

It took some effort, but Twilight managed to find her classroom, class Crescent Moon. The first bell would ring for another twenty minutes, so she took the time to read through one of the text books.

While she was buried in the book, she heard someone say, "Excuse me?"

She lowered the book she had been levitating in front of her. She dropped it in surprise a second later.

The unicorn stallion in front of her had a greyish-white coat, a grey mane, and wore a lab coat. That wasn't what startled her however. What startled her was how there were stitches scattered all over the pony's body, making it look like it had been patched together. The most striking part however, was a large screw that went straight through his head.

"Are you the new student?" He asked.

She nodded, "Twilight Sparkle, I'm supposed to be an honorary student starting today."

The pony looked thoughtful, "Ah, yes, Lord Death had informed me of the situation. I am the teacher for this class, Professor Franken Stein. I look forward to having you in my class."

"I look forward to being in your class," Twilight replied, "I heard you're in charge of those who've fallen ill. Is there a chance I can see them after school?"

Stein nodded, "Of course." Then, there was a spark in his eye that she wasn't sure she was entirely comfortable with, "After that, perhaps you would like to drop by my lab? I'm certain there would be some things there that would interest you."

"Um..." Why was he looking at her like that? Like she was something extremely fascinating? It gave her a crawling sensation. But still, the lab sounded interesting...

"No she doesn't!" Twilight felt someone grab her by the back of the neck and pull her away. She then found herself behind Maka, who had planted herself between Twilight and Stein. Out of the corner of Twilight's eye, she spotted Crona and Soul.

"Good morning Professor Stein!" Maka said with a degree of false cheerfulness, "No disrespect, but can I ask you NOT to take advantage of the clueless new student?"

The professor shook himself and smiled, "Ah, I'm sorry! I lost a bit of myself for a moment there. Very well then! I'm going to go in and start getting ready. I expect you all in there on time!" He then disappeared inside the classroom."

Maka breathed out a sigh of relief. Twilight stepped up next to her, "What was that about? A science lab sounds really interesting!"

"Twilight," Soul stepped up from behind her, "You DO NOT want to accept an invite to Stein's lab! Trust me!"

"Why's that?" She cocked her head.

"Let me put it this way. The last pony to go in there at Stein's request was a pegasus. He came out with his wings backwards."

Oh.

How was someone like that teaching!?

Soul shrugged, "Death City's a weird place."

No kidding!

"You get used to it."

Twilight hoped so.

It wasn't the last strange thing that happened to her either. There was still some time before class started, so they decided to meet with Kid and the sisters before class. When they found them though, Kid was curled up on the ground trembling, Liz was leaning over him, while Patty was nearby, chuckling to herself.

Maka put a hoof to her mouth, "Yikes, I haven't seen him that bad in a while."

Liz sighed, nudging the alicorn, "Yeah, just when you think you're out, he drags you right back in."

"Is he okay?" Twilight asked, casting a worried look over Kid.

"Depends on your definition of 'okay.'" Liz nudged him again, "Come on Kid. The others are here and class is going to start soon."

"No.." was the weak response from Kid, "I can't...how can I? How can I go on, knowing that that picture might be leaning?"

Huh?

Liz groaned, "Come on Kid, you checked it yourself before we left. It's fine!"

"No!" He suddenly shot into the air. "I have to go check right now!"

Liz grabbed his tail in her mouth as he began to fly away, stopping him in midair. "Oh no, you don't!" She said, muffled by the tail, "Patty, give me a hoof!"

"'Kay!" Patty trotted over and grabbed her own mouthful of Kid's tail, pulling him further down. The sisters pulled, and he came crashing down, whimpering.

"I'm so worthless..." he muttered, "I should just die..."

"Are you sure he's going to be alright?" Twilight asked.

"He usually pulls himself together soon enough," Maka replied, "Just give him some time."

In the end, it was clear that Kid wasn't going to recover in time for class. Liz was forced to admit that they were going to be late for class, and urged the others to go on ahead.

Class finally started. Black*Star and Tsubaki never showed up. Maka got confirmation from Stein that Tsubaki had called in sick. Black*Star had probably stayed home to tend to her. Kid and the sisters showed up about an hour in, Kid looking much better.

Just as Twilight anticipated, class was extremely interesting. There were so many things that she truly didn't know, or was even aware about. She had the time of her life, taking notes and eagerly listening to Stein's lectures.

Partway through, another teacher took over to teach a lesson. He was a dark blue pony with a black mane. Eerily, instead of eyes, he had black pits. His color didn't look completely natural either, when she thought about it. And when he turned to face the class, she realized that there was a large hole in the middle of his forehead.

"Um, what's wrong with that teacher?" Twilight had asked, leaning over to Maka, who was sitting next to her.

"Professor Sid?" Maka smiled, "Don't worry, he's a nice guy."

"That's not what I was asking."

"Oh, he had an incident where a statute went through his forehead and killed him. Stein brought him back to life as a zombie. He's still a nice guy, like a said."

Okaaay. Twilight wasn't sure what was creepier. The fact that a zombie was teaching the class, or the matter-of-fact tone with which Maka described him.

Lunch finally came around, and Twilight expected a relatively normal affair. She was proven horribly wrong.

It started off normal enough. Twilight went to the cafeteria with the others, ordered food and sat with them. As she was absorbed in conversation with Liz and Maka, she noticed Crona approaching, balancing not one, but two trays.

Maka noticed too, and turned in her seat, "Do you need help Crona?"

"No, I'm fine," the pegasus said, making it to an empty spot at the table. She carefully placed the two trays down before finally taking a seat.

"You must eat a lot," Twilight noted.

"Oh, no," Crona shook her head, "The other tray's for Ragnarock."

Now that Twilight thought about it, she had never met Ragnarock yesterday, despite the mention of him. From what she had seen, meister-weapon teams stuck together. Yet she had never seen Crona with her partner.

Twilight ate her words a moment later.

"Finally!"

A ruff, grouchy voice came out of seemingly nowhere. And then, a dark shape emerged from Crona's back. It formed into the vague shape of the front-half of a pony. It was small, small enough that it could fit itself between Crona ears and place its front hooves on her head. With a small shiver, Twilight realized that it was still attached to Crona through its back half.

"I thought that stupid class was never going to end," the blob declared.

"And here I thought you were going to sleep all day like you did yesterday," Maka commented, seeming unfazed by the fact that Crona had sprouted...whatever the blob was.

"Hell, no. I'm hungry," the blob poked at Crona's head, "Make yourself useful and bring some of that food up here!"

"Um, okay," Crona said, as she took one of the trays and carefully placed in on top of her head. A moment later, there was the sound of the blob ripping into the food.

Twilight could only stare. What...what was that?! What had happened? What that...?

"Is that Ragnarock...?" She asked faintly.

"Yep," Maka confirmed, "I should warn you now, you're better off ignoring him most of the time. He has a lot of bark, but he no longer has the bite to back it up."

"What is he? Why is he...attached to Crona like that?" Twilight shivered again.

"I'll tell you the story later," Maka replied.

After lunch was physical education. Crona actually split off from the group for this. When Twilight questioned it, Maka simply said "Remedial flight lessons."

"Remedial flight lessons?" Twilight asked.

"Crona never learned to fly. Last I heard, she still has trouble even getting off the ground."

Twilight felt troubled by this, "Why did she never learn to fly? I mean, she's a pegasus."

Maka just shook her head, "Crona has a very dark history. Like I said, I'll tell you later, if she'll let me."

Phys. Ed. took place outside in the track and field area. Twilight took a seat in the stands, and began reading a book. She was surprised when, a short time into the class, she was joined by Soul and the sisters.

"What are you doing here?" She asked as Soul took a seat next to her.

"Weapons have lower athletic standards then the meisters," he explained simply, "We usually finish before them."

Twilight nodded in understanding and went back to her book. She read until she heard Soul say,

"Everypony's really counting on you to solve what's been going on you know," Twilight lowered her book to look at the stallion.

She thought for a moment, "Do you know anyone who was affected?"

"Not anyone I'm personally close to," he admitted, "But one of Maka's friends lost her ability to transform. A few others that we're acquainted with came down with that illness. One of our friends is also in charge of helping the sick. You'll probably meet her at some point."

"I'm sorry to hear about Maka's friend," Twilight said.

Soul shrugged, "She's okay besides."

After Phys. Ed. was over, the part of the day finally came that Twilight had been most eagerly looking forward to.

Combat practice.

Twilight couldn't get herself to the rooms dedicated to training sessions fast enough. She had yet to see the process of a pony turning into a weapon. A part of her still had a hard time believing it. This would be the final proof for that skeptical part of her.

She chose a spot to watch near Maka and Soul. The two talked for a few minutes, mentally situating themselves. Maka then shot a wink at Twilight before turning back to Soul,

"We have a spectator today, so let's not screw up!"

Soul nodded. Then, suddenly, he was nothing more than blue light. Twilight watched in amazement as the light formed into the shape of a large scythe. Maka leaned forward and grabbed the staff with her mouth. The light faded, revealing Soul's weapon form. At the end of the staff was an eye design. Sticking out from that was a large scythe blade, zigzagged with red and black.

Twilight stared as Maka lifted up a front hoof and place the staff of the weapon on it. She smiled,

"Impressive, huh?"

"Very," Twilight agreed, "That's incredible, to think some ponies can do that."

"You haven't seen anything yet." Maka place the weapon back in her mouth.

Twilight watched in awe, as Maka performed several maneuvers with the scythe, slashing at air and dancing around unseen enemies. Twilight wondered, briefly, what Maka was like in a real fight. She must be incredible to watch.

Maka didn't spar, but Kid did. Maka took a break from her practice to sit with Twilight to watch a duel between Kid and another student who wielded an axe.

Kid wielded twin pistols, which Twilight quickly realized where actually the unicorn sisters. He hovered them in the air using magic. As the student charged him, he simply took flight. There were a series of gunshots and what looked like energy blasts slammed into the student below.

"Those aren't bullets, are they?" Twilight asked.

Maka shook her head, "No. Demon Guns fire off bits of compressed soul wavelength."

"I think I remember reading about that," Twilight said, racking her brain. A soul emitted energy, often with its own special 'frequency' called a wavelength. That innate energy was harnessed and used by meister-weapon pairs.

After practice was over, followed by another round of lectures, the school day finally ended.

Twilight approached Professor Stein who was rounding up some papers on his desk as the rest of the students filed out.

"Professor Stein?" She asked.

He glanced up at her, "Twilight, come to accept my earlier offer?"

Remembering Soul's words earlier, Twilight shivered, "No thanks. But Kid told me that you were in charge of those who've become sick?"

"Ah, yes," he stepped away from the desk, "I almost forgot, you were sent to help us solve that problem," he started walking towards the door, "This way, please."

Twilight followed him out of the classroom and through the hallways of the Academy. She kept close behind him, not wanting to get lost in the twisting hallways of the school.

Eventually he stopped at a door. He turned to her.

"I should warn you. As far as we know, this isn't contagious. However..."

Twilight nodded, "I understand the risks."

He then opened the door and stepped inside. She carefully followed him in.

They walked down a hallway. Eventually, it opened up into a large room. And it was a bit crowded.

There were ponies curled up on mats on the floor. They were scattered around the room, some holding weak conversations, some sleeping, and a few deathly still. To Twilight's surprise, she didn't hear moans usually associated with unwellness, suggesting that nausea wasn't a symptom. On further observation, she realized that the room was actually fairly cool. Fever wasn't involved, or it would have been sweltering.

There were other ponies, caretakers, Twilight assumed, walking around and tending to them. One of them, a purple earth pony with a long black mane and a lantern for her cutie mark, noticed them

"Oh, Professor Stein!" She walked over, "Good timing. Ms. Nygus wants you to look over a new case."

Stein sighed, "Very well," he gestured to Twilight, "Perhaps you could show her around? She was sent to help."

"With pleasure," the mare replied. Stein walked off. The mare smiled at Twilight, "Good to meet you. I'm Jack 'o Lantern. Call me Jackie, please." She turned and made a gesture, "Follow me."

Twilight followed Jackie through the room. "So, what's your name?" Jackie asked.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle," Twilight replied, "I was sent by Princess Luna to investigate."

"Yeah, I remember that Lord Death called for help. Ah, there she is." Jackie trotted over to a unicorn mare with a yellow coat and a pink mane. A racoon tail was her cutie mark.

She seemed to be using her magic to tend to the pony in front of her, enveloping the pony in magical energy. She finished up as Jackie reached her and brightened.

"Jackie! Do you have that water I was asking for? This one has barely drank anything today."

"I sent Tsugumi to get it," Jackie replied. She then stepped aside, "Kim, this is Twilight Sparkle. She was the one sent to investigate this illness. Twilight, this is Kim Diehl, she's the primary healer and honorary nurse."

Twilight stepped up and help out a hoof, "Its nice to meet you."

Kim took the hoof, shaking it, "Likewise. I heard they sent help."

Twilight observed the pony in front of them, who was lightly dozing, "What's wrong with them? They don't seem to be nauseous or feverish..."

Kim shook her head, "That's part of our problem. We don't know. It just seems to be, well, general weakness. Most of these ponies ended up in here after collapsing. Very few of them have stood up since. Occasionally, my magic will allow them to get up for a while, but its not very long before they give out again."

"You have healing magic?" Twilight cocked her head, "Your cutie mark wouldn't imply it."

"No, it wouldn't," Kim admitted, "But where I'm from, raccoons rule over regeneration and healing. I have some of the most powerful healing magic anyone's ever seen."

"Then why are you here at the DWMA? Shouldn't you be a nurse somewhere?"

Kim cast her eyes downward, "There were a lot of reasons I came here. After a few...incidents I wasn't exactly welcome in my hometown..." she then shook herself and smiled at Twilight, "I like it here though. I have Jackie now, and we're one of the best pairs in the Academy."

"Are you a weapon?" Twilight asked, coming to what she could think of the only conclusion, "Is that why they kicked you out?"

Kim shook her head, "No, I'm a meister. Jackie is the weapon."

"A Demon Lantern, to be more precise," Jackie added.

A voice interrupted their conversation, "Here's the water you wanted Kim!"

A sky-blue earth mare with a pigtailed black mane was sitting nearby, a bucket of water in front of her.

"Thanks Tsugumi," Kim enveloped the bucket with her magic and hovered it near a tin in front of the sick pony. She poured some of the water in the tin before placing the bucket nearby. Kim gestured to Tsugumi,

"This is Tsugumi, she's a friend of ours, former classmate, and was one of the first to lose her weapon ability."

"Really?" Twilight stepped up to Tsugumi, "Is there anything you can tell me?" Twilight needed clues on where to start her investigation.

Tsugumi drooped, ears and all, "Not really. It just sort of...happened. We were in practice, and after a few minutes of trying, I realized that it wasn't happening. I thought it was just...I don't know, a fluke. But then others started having the same problem..."

"Did anything strange happen before then?" Twilight asked, hoping for a lead, "Did you meet anyone? Eat something unusual? Anything like that?"

Tsugumi shook her head, "No. Everything up to that point was normal. At least, normal for the Academy."

In the end, Twilight didn't come away with much. Only the symptoms of the disease, which would be just enough to start her search. After leaving the sick wing, she went to the library. She shouldn't have been as surprised as she was to see Maka there.

"Hi Twilight," she greeted from her place at a table nearby, a book in front of her.

"Hi Maka," Twilight returned as she went over to a nearby shelf, "Do you know where they keep the medical books?"

Maka pointed a hoof in one direction, "Over there. What are you looking for specifically?"

"I just need to do some research," Twilight reached the shelf Maka indicated and began levitating books off of it, "I saw the ponies who were sick today."

Maka got up from her place and walked over, "Did you see Tsugumi, by any chance?"

Twilight glanced at the other mare, "Is she a friend of yours?"

Maka nodded sadly. The gears in Twilight's mind suddenly clicked. Soul had mentioned how a friend of Maka's had been affected. Tsugumi must be that friend. Twilight smiled at the earth pony, "Don't worry, I'm going to find out what's going on."

Maka smiled back, "Let me help you."

A couple of hours later, Twilight had several books stuffed into her bag for checkout and later research. She and Maka were now at a table, looking over a book.

"Part of the problem is," Twilight remarked, looking over the book, "Is that DWMA students go all over the world for missions. That could lead to any one of a variety of causes, some of them exclusive to their areas."

Maka seemed to think about this. She then perked up, "I have an idea! You could start accompanying some of us on missions!"

Twilight's head shot up, "Huh?"

"Its like you said, DWMA students go all over the world. If you come with some of us on missions, you'll be able to get that traveling in to investigate."

Twilight contemplated this. Then nodded, shutting her book, "I'll check in with the headmaster, but I think that's a great idea."

"I'll check in with him for you," Maka offered, "You should really go home and study."

Twilight agreed with that and went home. Her evening was spent reading her books, and doing some final research. She did some studying, then went to bed.

Tomorrow was another day, but her time in the city was just beginning.

/

I did some name changes to make them more 'pony-like.' Tsubaki is one, with Tsubaki just being a nickname and her actual name being more in line with traditional pony names. Jackie is more obvious. In Soul Eater, her name was Jacqueline O. Lantern Dupre. Here, I simply changed it to Jack 'o Lantern.

Hopefully my next chapter won't take nearly as long as this one did. Wish me luck!


End file.
